19. Jenna
Chapter nineteen
Jenna
“I can’t believe you christened that bed before I got the chance to,” Cassandra whispers to me in her kitchen. I’m helping her clean up the mess we made, while everyone else says their goodbyes.
“And bathroom,” I whisper back, placing the last wine glass into the dishwasher before closing the door on it.
She gasps. “No you didn’t!” Her cheeks are flushed from the alcohol, and her lipstick is smudged because her husband can’t keep his hands off of her.
She was never this relaxed with Austin. The difference Harley has made in her life is like summer and winter.
These days, she’s sunshine in human form, and it’s easily my favorite thing in the universe to see.
“I did, and now I don’t know what to do.” I sigh, drying my hands on some paper towel. “He made me promise that we could do this as much as we wanted for the next three months, and I don’t know if I have it in me to commit to that,” I say, and she scrunches up her nose with a little chuckle.
“Commit to what? Regular sex? He’s not asking you to fall in love with him, Jen. He’s just asking to bury his face in your—”
“Woah, okay. I don’t need to hear the rest of that sentence,” I warn her with a slight shake of my head—taking her still full glass of wine off her, and emptying it down the sink.
“All I’m saying is, you guys are pretending to be in love or whatever at work. Why can’t you both reap the benefits a little?” She wiggles her brows at me.
“That’s what I’m trying to convince her of doing, but your best friend is impossible to get alone,” Cole says from over my shoulder.
Goosebumps prickle every part of my skin, and the way his eyes trail over my body tells me he knows.
“I agree with my wife and my new friend here. I don’t know why you’re trying to fight it, Rogers. The guy is a catch,” Harley says, patting his new friend on the shoulder before drawing his wife in for a long, drawn-out kiss.
“Am I the only sober one here?” I ask, looking around the room at the abundance of empty bottles that sit on the bench top.
“Looks like it,” Cole says, inching closer to me, his fingers fiddling with the fabric of my blue sundress, and I take a step back. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” I ask as my back connects with the wall behind me.
“Don’t pretend like tonight didn’t happen. Don’t pretend like you didn’t want it as badly as I did, and don’t pretend like it’s never going to happen again,” he says, his arms resting above my head against the wall at my back.
“I-do you need a ride home?” I whisper to him, and he nips at my lip.
“Why do you think I sent Tate home an hour ago? I needed an excuse to get you alone. I just thought I’d have to beg a little.” He smirks, kissing the corner of my mouth, and I sink further back.
“I’m not above asking you to beg.” I kiss him back, forgetting that I’m surrounded by people who won’t let me live this down for the rest of my lonely life.
“If I get on my knees right now, Snow, it won’t be for me to beg you to take me home. It'll be with your leg resting on my shoulder and—”
“Goodnight, Jenna and Cole,” Lizzie and Olive’s harmonizing voices shout from the front door, letting us know that they’re on their way out, and I push him away from me.
I clear my throat. “Night guys. I guess I—we—should head out, too.” I collect my things, hug everyone goodbye and walk out, side by side with Cole.
I thank Cassandra and Harley for throwing me an intimate game's night for a birthday party, and walk out to the parked G-Wagon.
Cole rounds the car quickly, opening the door for me, and I roll my eyes. “What are you trying to do? Win me over?” I say sarcastically, stepping into the car, and he closes the door for me. “What is happening?” I whisper to myself as I plug my phone into the charger, waiting for him to get in.
He closes his door gently, reaching over my chest for my seat belt to buckle it in for me, but I take it out of his hands. “Okay, that is where I draw the line.”
“Was just seeing how far you’d let me take it,” he says for the second time tonight, and I shake my head with a sigh, making sure I turn my face away from him so he can’t see me smile.
Turning on the ignition, the car alerts me that I have a text message from Margot asking me to call her when I get the chance, and even though it’s late, I do it now anyway.
“Do you mind?” I ask Cole as we take off down the windy driveway of the Wingrove palace.
“Go for it. I need to text Tate telling him I’m not coming home,” he tells me, and before I can protest, Margot answers the call.
“Hey, Boss. Sorry it’s so late,” she says in a hushed tone.
“It’s fine. I was just heading home. Is everything OK?” I ask, seeing Cole place his phone into his lap, but his eyes remain glued out the window of the passenger seat.
“Everything with the salon is fine. It’s just…your mom came in today and—” She hesitates, and my body stiffens. My mom and the salon used together in the same sentence doesn’t bode well with me. “She begged me not to tell you, but it didn’t feel right and—”
“Margot, I love you, but spit it out.”
“She asked if she could have a job while you’re away. Sweeping up hair, shampooing and conditioning, all the boring stuff,” she says with a sigh.
“Did she say why?” I ask, biting the inside of my cheek so hard that I draw blood, the taste of metallic tang on my tongue.
“No, just that she’s desperate for money. She looks unwell, Jen. Really thin.” I put the car into park in my designated space at our apartment building. Cole climbs out, and mouths, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ before closing his door quietly, leaving me alone with Margot, the silence, and my thoughts.
I hate my thoughts.
They go where no thoughts about a mother should go.
“Give her a job. Let her do the absolute bare minimum, but pay her higher than what we would usually pay a casual worker. Don’t tell her that I know.” I hang up before she can ask why I’m doing that for a woman who doesn’t deserve anything from me. I grip the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turn white, then I punch it twice.
She’s too proud to let me pay for her to have a better life than the one she lives, but not too proud to beg for a job? The money would come from the same place, but I guess her pride can’t handle me knowing about it.
I fight the urge to call or text her and demand she tell me what’s going on. But I know that if I do, it’ll end in one of us getting emotionally abused—me.
I’ve enjoyed my night tonight way too much to let it be ruined by the devil-incarnate.
I unlock my phone to text Cassandra to let her know I’ve made it home safely when it vibrates in my hand, and for a moment, I forget that I’m frustrated.
Unknown: I took the key off your keychain and am waiting in my birthday suit.
I giggle to myself, fumbling to take my keys out of the center console to see if he’s lying, and close the car door behind me.
“I didn’t think you’d still be here,” I say to Marv, who rises from the chair behind the computer desk. His hair looks a little ruffled tonight, but he still seems more put together than I ever have.
“Hi, Ms. Rogers. I was waiting to make sure you got home safely,” he replies with a smile, heading in my direction.
My apartment is only a few feet away, but I don’t feel like being alone, so I sit on the couch in the foyer, and pat the empty spot beside me.
His eyebrows pinch together, but he straightens his back and continues to walk my way.
We sit in a comfortable silence for me, but it’s obvious that he’s unsure as fiddles with his fingers resting in his lap.
“Tell me about her,” I finally say, and he looks at me with a soft smile. His cheeks hit with a soft shade of pink.
“Louella was the most beautiful woman I’d ever known.” He smiles wider, his body relaxing into the backrest of the couch, and I like that he knew exactly who I was talking about.
Loosening his tie, he takes his deep red jacket off, and folds it neatly over the side of the couch while his arm rests along the back.
“How did you guys meet?” I ask, turning my body to face him, copying the way he sits.
He thinks for a moment, and I stare at the side of his beautifully aged face, watching his expression flick from pure joy to utter heartbreak and finally, acceptance. “She hated my guts to begin with.” He chuckles to himself, and I grin. “She didn’t see the appeal of me, and I must admit, I wasn’t the catch back then that I became. But she was adamant that she and I were just friends. No matter how often I told her that there wasn’t a universe in which we both existed, that ‘friends’ is all we were. No way.” He takes his glasses off, folds them, and puts them into his breast pocket.
“Did it take a lot of convincing?” I ask him, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket, but I ignore it.
I’m too invested in this conversation with Marv to hear from anyone outside of this room.
“In the grand scheme of things, no.” He shakes his head. “But it felt like an eternity back then because I didn’t want a life without her. And now that I’m experiencing what life is really like without her…” He drops his head, blinking rapidly the tears that threaten to fall. “I would relive that moment over and over again if it meant she was still here with me. All I can do now is wait patiently to see my Louella again,” he says, rising from his seat while clearing his throat. “You take care, Ms. Rogers.” He collects his belongings and heads out the doors without so much as a glance over his shoulder.
Wiping the lone tear that had fallen down my cheek, I clutch my keys in my hands, and head for my apartment door.
Once it closes behind me, I fetch my phone to read the text waiting for me.
Unknown: By this point I would assume you realized I was joking…but I can absolutely come down in nothing but my birthday suit if you want winky face
Me: Goodnight, Cole.
Unknown: So if I were to ask you out on a date, the answer would still be the same?
Me: Sleep well.
Unknown: I’ll try again tomorrow.
I want to reply begging him not to, but my fingers don’t find the strength they need.
Instead, they click the one on the side that turns my screen black, and I head directly to my bedroom where my safe haven is waiting for me with open arms, and sleep welcomes me within minutes.